Big Bird
by Jediempress
Summary: Leon and Zack ask Cloud and Riku to run an errand for them. Riku finally sees first hand why Cloud cringes whenever he hears the word chocobo. Prize fic for Sahxyel. Complete.


Since Sahxyel was the first to figure out my little murder mystery in Words are Power, I wrote her this little fic as a reward. The first time I saw I chocobo, I thought of Big Bird from Sesame Street.

I do not own the boys.

Big Bird

So far, it had been a rather boring trip.

When Leon and Zack had located Riku in the library and said they had a favor to ask of him and Cloud, the teen had been mildly curious. When that favor was a journey to the other side of Radiant Garden to deliver a rather substantial supply of greens from the communal farms, he became suspicious. When Riku had told Cloud of their assignment, the blond was suspiciously curious.

Cloud had frowned deeply, asking why them. Riku had only shrugged. It was an easy task and it meant the couple got to spend an entire day alone together. He did not really care if Zack and Leon did have a hidden agenda.

Cid's small truck was loaded and ready to go when they had arrived at the garage that morning. The middle-aged man had given them an odd look before grumbling that they better not mess up his truck. Aerith had left them a picnic lunch with a note saying to enjoy their day out and to explore the plains.

Cloud's wariness had only increased.

The drive was uneventful, Riku asking Cloud how he knew how to drive and the blond explained that he had learned on one of the villagers old trucks back in Nibelheim. This led to a quiet discussion about their mutual homeworld. The teen was rather surprised how easily Cloud spoke about his hometown as he drove.

Now, five hours later, they had fallen into a comfortable silence. Riku had slid over and dropped his head onto Cloud's shoulder. The path they drove along was rather smooth and Riku ended up falling into a light sleep.

"Riku."

"Mmm?" The teen blinked and lifted his head. "Are we there?"

"Almost." Cloud nodded ahead of them. Riku looked out to see a long, one-story building a few miles out. "I'm assuming that's where we're going."

They pulled up a few minutes later, Cloud cutting the engine and glancing at Riku. "This is still really weird."

Riku smiled and leaned forward. "Let's just unload the truck and go find a nice little hillside with a large tree," he traced Cloud's jaw, "and relax."

He dipped in and kissed the blond roughly before moving away and exiting the truck. An unusual smell greeted his nose and he scrunched up his face a bit as he rounded the back of the vehicle. He heard the other door open and Cloud's booted feet hit the dirt.

A man ambled out and greeted them, or rather Riku since Cloud was blocked from view by the truck. Riku nodded to the man and wondered what was taking Cloud so long to come around. He leaned back and saw that his lover had frozen beside the truck.

"Cloud?"

The blond had a strange look to his face. "That smell…"

Riku lifted a silver eyebrow. "Yeah, what about it?"

"I know it."

Okay. Riku had no idea what the problem was but the man had come over and was inspecting the load of greens.

"These look good." The man looked to be between Cloud and Riku's ages. "I really appreciate you guys coming all the way out here to bring these."

"No problem." Riku raised his voice a bit. "You going to help, Cloud?"

The blond snapped out of his daze and stepped toward the truck bed. The moment he saw the other man, he gaped. "I know you."

The guy angled his head a moment before suddenly brightening. "Chocobo-head! I remember you!"

Riku folded his arms and looked between the two in amusement. "You've met?"

"I tried to buy some chocobos from Bill back home when we were going after Sephiroth. He sold me some overpriced lure and sent me on a wild chocobo chase." Cloud explained in annoyance.

The man laughed. "Hey, they came right to you! I've never seen them react that way toward anyone else."

"Damn," Cloud cursed and smacked the side of the truck. "I am going to kill Zack!"

Bill was grinning. "They didn't tell you why they sent you out here, did they?"

"No."

Riku was finding all of this quite amusing. He ignored the evil glare Cloud sent him and he spoke to Bill. "So what are the greens for?"

"To feed the chocobos, of course."

Riku's jaw dropped. "You've got chocobo's here?"

"Yeah, of course," The man waved Riku to follow him. The teen moved quickly after him, through the building and out to a large fenced off area.

Riku smiled broadly. Six different colored large bird-like creatures wandered about, their feathers fluttering in the light wind that swept the field. One pecked at another and _warked_ loudly. "Oh, wow."

"Beautiful creatures." Bill noted, bracing his hands on the fence.

"Annoying creatures," Cloud countered as he reluctantly joined them. He glanced at Riku and saw the teen looking between him and the chocobos. "Say it and no sex for a week."

"You wouldn't last two days." Riku smirked.

"……"

Bill flicked his eyes between them and decided he really did not want to know. "So, uh, why don't we get the truck unloaded and you two can get out of here?"

The three left the pen, returning to the truck and removing the crates of greens. They stacked them up inside one of the stalls and once finished, Bill broke one open. He removed a few handfuls of the vegetables and handed them to Riku.

"I can go feed them?"

"Yeah." Bill headed back out to the pen.

Riku grinned at Cloud, who rolled his eyes. The teen stuck out his tongue in an uncharacteristically childish way before running after Bill. Cloud folded his arms and looked up at the roof, silently cursing Zack and Leon. He then went outside also.

The black and red chocobos had come over to Riku and were obediently eating the greens he handed them. Aqua eyes shined brightly and as Cloud leaned against the fence and watched, he could not help but smile. Riku really looked happy.

There was a tugging on his head and Cloud glanced up to find a yellow one chewing at his hair. He shooed it away and it _warked_ loudly at him in protest. It pecked him in the head and trotted off.

Riku's laughter rang out and despite his irritation, Cloud was glad to hear it. It had been a long time since Riku had laughed. He actually ended up smiling a bit.

Riku petted the black one's soft feathers. "I'm glad Zack and Leon made us come out here."

Cloud studied his lover a minute. "Yeah."

"That one's really taken a liking to you." Bill noted. "You want to try riding her?"

Riku stopped petting and stared at the man. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Bill motioned toward Cloud. "Chocobo-head here is an expert rider. Take 'em out onto the field and spend a few hours in the countryside. Have a picnic."

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "This was a total set up, wasn't it? You didn't need those greens."

Bill shrugged.

"Who cares?" Riku pulled on Cloud's arm. "Let's get the basket and go. We can figure out our revenge on Leon and Zack later."

Cloud eyed the penned animals warily as Riku tugged him to the truck. He really did not want to do this but then he again caught his lover's excited expression and sighed. As Riku got the picnic basket from the truck, Cloud said another silent curse upon the other couple's heads.

Riku rejoined him and together they walked over to the pen. He got Riku mounted and settled on the black one, watching as the teen laughed and awkwardly guided the animal around the pen. Once content that Riku was fine, he chose the red one and climbing on bought it over to join Riku.

He saddled along side him and Riku leaned over to squeeze Cloud's leg. The blond carefully shifted his balance and moved over to kiss the teen. Riku grinned broadly and Cloud gave a soft smile of his own.

Then the couple headed out.


End file.
